Lessons in Sand (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
by ilna
Summary: Steve and Angie spend time on the beach with Aaron, Joan, Danny, and Grace.


**Notes:** Mari and Sammy - Thank you, as always, for the love and support. HUGE thanks to Sammy for all the brainstorming help and, of course, the title. :-)

Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! We know you love Joanie as much as we do!

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _Lessons in Sand (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)_

"Can Baby Angie play in the sand with me?" Joan asked hopefully as she stepped off the deck.

"Yep, as long as we keep a close eye on her so she doesn't try to eat the sand," Steve said, Angie propped on one hip.

Joan looked up at him, surprised. "Eat the sand?" She made a face. "That's yucky!"

Aaron laughed. "It is, but that's one way babies figure out the world. They put things in their mouths."

Joan looked sternly at her cousin, propping her hands on her hips even though they both held beach toys. "Don't eat the sand, Baby Angie. It's not good for you. It's just for playing."

"Ah bababa," Angie babbled, holding a hand out toward her.

"Angie says, 'Thank you for looking out for me, cousin,' " Steve said with a smile.

Joan grinned. "I'm the big cousin. I'll make sure Baby Angie doesn't eat any sand. Come on!" she said, turning and skipping toward the water. She swung the red bucket and yellow plastic shovel in her hands.

The two father/daughter pairs were on their own at the beach house. Catherine, after dropping Cammie at the groomer, had headed to work for a meeting and was planning to meet Mary, Elizabeth, and Grandma Ang for lunch while Joseph volunteered at the Veterans' Hospital.

"Eeeiii!" Angie cried happily, holding both hands out toward the ocean as she realized where they were headed.

"Loves the water, eh?" Aaron asked.

Steve nodded, smiling. "Definitely."

Aaron grinned. "No surprises there."

"That's the general consensus," Steve agreed.

Joan reached the shoreline ahead of them, dropping her toys and running to meet the tide. She squealed as the water hit her feet and ran back to the drier sand.

Angie laughed at her cousin's antics, bouncing against Steve's side. "Aiieee! Da!"

"Yeah, I know, you want to get your feet wet, too," Steve said, heading for the water himself. Joan ran up beside him, grabbing his leg to watch as he lowered Angie down so her feet met the cresting wave.

"Eeeeiii!" Angie squealed, kicking her legs.

Joan laughed happily. "She likes it!"

"Yes, she does," Steve said, beaming. "She'd stay out in the water all day if she could, but didn't you say you were going to show Angie how you build a sandcastle?"

Joan's eyes lit up. "Daddy!" she exclaimed, turning to where Aaron was setting down the bag of beach toys he'd carried by the umbrellas. "Can you help me make a sandcastle? I want to show Baby Angie!"

"Of course, pumpkin. Let's find a good spot."

"You'll have a great one built by the time Gracie and Uncle Danno get here," Steve said. He dipped Angie's feet one more time, much to her delight, then lifted her back up and walked to where Joan and Aaron were setting their shovels, molds, and buckets.

"You sit there with Baby Angie, Uncle Steve," Joan said, pointing. "Don't let her eat the sand."

Steve laughed. "Okay, Joanie, I won't." He sat down carefully, amused when Joan kept her eyes on Angie. He stretched out his legs and settled her in between them. She immediately reached for the sand, scrunching it in her hands, but didn't bring any to her mouth.

"Ah ba ba ba!" she said, grinning back at Steve and holding a sandy fist in his direction.

"She didn't eat it!" Joan said, straightening happily from her vigilant pose.

"Nope," Steve said, "and she likes the sand a lot more than you did at her age, Joanie. You didn't like sitting in the sand or even touching it with your fingers when you were a baby."

"I didn't like it?" Joan repeated.

"No, but you sure do now," Steve said. "So let's see this sandcastle building."

"Which bucket do you want to use, pumpkin?" Aaron asked.

Joan grabbed the red bucket she'd carried down to the beach, having picked it after remembering Aunt Deb's story about Angie putting it on her head. "This is Baby Angie's favorite, right, Uncle Steve?" she asked Steve.

"Well, I don't know if it's her favorite, but that's the one she put on her head the other day," he said, smiling as Angie leaned over his leg, trying to crawl over him.

Joan smiled, satisfied with that answer, and starting putting wet sand in the red bucket with a shovel. After a few shovelfuls, she decided to drop it in favor of using her hands.

Steve smiled. "Yeah, you definitely don't mind the sand now, do you, Joanie?"

She beamed. "I like it now because I'm a big girl. I'm almost five!"

"Don't remind me," Aaron groaned. "You're already growing up too fast."

"Daddy, fill your bucket!" Joan admonished.

"Sorry, sorry," he said, picking up a plastic shovel. "I'm filling."

"Why are you using wet sand, Joanie?" Steve asked, obviously knowing the answer but curious what she would say.

"You have to use wet sand," she said simply.

"But why, pumpkin?" Aaron prompted. "What happened when we tried with dry sand in our buckets?"

"It didn't work," she said. "It just went phhhew, in a pile." She motioned with her hands.

"So the wet sand sticks together?" Steve said.

Joan nodded, focused on filling her bucket. When she'd put enough sand it in it she said, "Now you have to pat it." She used both hands to pat the sand down.

"I bet Angie would like to try that," Aaron said, lifting his bucket and putting it in front of Angie. She reached for the rim of the yellow bucket, but it was too heavy for her to move. "Come show her, pumpkin."

Joan jumped up excitedly and bounded over. She squatted on the other side of the bucket and patted the sand. "Like this, Baby Angie. Pat, pat, pat."

"Ba ba ba," Angie said, reaching a hand out and grasping some of the sand from inside the bucket.

"Pat, pat, pat," Joan said again.

"Can you do that, baby girl?" Steve said. "Watch Joanie." He pointed at Joan to direct Angie's gaze back to her and Joan again patted the sand on the top of the bucket.

"Ah ba!" Angie said, slapping one hand flat on the sand.

"That's it," Steve said proudly.

"She did it!" Joan cried.

"She's a fast learner," Steve said. He smiled at his niece. "And she has her cousin to teach her."

Joan beamed.

"Okay, pumpkin, let's show Angie the next part," Aaron said as he moved his bucket back by Joan's. "Are you ready to flip?"

"Can you help me, Daddy?" she asked, moving back to her bucket. "It's so heavy."

"Of course," he said. "Let's do it together. Ready? One, two, three!" On three they flipped the bucket over. "Okay, show Angie and Uncle Steve how you count to twenty."

Joan started to count confidently, patting the sides of the bucket as she did. Angie leaned in her direction, though they were a few feet away and Steve kept her between his legs.

"Twenty!" Joan said. She looked at Aaron. "Now I can lift it?"

"Go ahead," he encouraged.

She wiggled the bucket a little to get it going, then lifted it up and off, leaving a bucket-shaped pile of sand in its place. She tossed the bucket aside and clapped happily. "Yay! It worked!"

"Ah ba!" Angie cried, waving her hands in front of her in an attempt at a clap herself.

"See, she's even trying to clap like you, Joanie," Steve said.

"Yay, Baby Angie!" Joan said, now clapping more, hoping her cousin would continue to imitate her.

"Eeiiii!" Angie squealed, her hands meeting in a clap.

Joan jumped excitedly. "She did it!"

"She did," Steve said, beaming. He leaned around to look at her. "Wait till Mommy hears."

"Ah ma!"

"That's right," he said. "Mama."

Joan jumped. "She almost said Mama!" On one of jumps, she landed off balance and her foot shot out to steady herself, plunging into the newly made sandcastle.

Steve and Aaron winced, waiting for her reaction.

Before Joan could say anything, Angie clapped again. "Ah ba!"

This instantly had Joan smiling again. "It's okay if you smash your sandcastle," she said. "You can make it again."

Aaron smiled, relieved. "That's right. But when is it not okay to smash a sandcastle?" he asked.

"When it's a other person's sandcastle," Joan said. She shook her head seriously. "You can't smash a other person's sandcastle, and you say sorry if it's a accident and help them."

"Yes," Aaron said. "You don't want to smash someone else's sandcastle, and if you do by accident you tell them you're sorry and ask if you can help fix it. Good job, pumpkin." He motioned to his bucket. "Do you want to help me make my sandcastle? Then you can refill your bucket."

"Yes!" Joan cried immediately, moving to help.

"Eeiii!" Angie echoed, trying again to climb over Steve's leg.

"Can Angie and I try with the yellow bucket?" Steve asked once Joan and Aaron had successfully flipped and lifted it.

Joan looked over excitedly. "Can I help you and Baby Angie?"

"Of course," Steve immediately replied. "You're the expert here."

Joan scrambled over with the bucket and she and Steve started filling it. She didn't seem to mind that Angie's contribution consisted mostly of slapping the bucket and trying to climb over Steve's leg.

"Okay, Angie, time to pat the sand," Steve said. "Show her again, Joanie."

"Pat, pat, pat," Joan said, patting the sand in rhythm with her words.

Angie reached out to pat the sand as well, copying Joan. "Ba bah!" she said, smiling up at them.

"Good job!" Steve said, leaning in for a quick kiss to her cheek. He glanced toward the house at the figures who had emerged. "Hey, Joanie, look who's finally here."

"Grace!" Joan shrieked, jumping up.

"Ah eeiii!" Angie echoed, before even seeing what the fuss was about.

Joan ran to meet the teenager who knelt to wrap her up in a tight hug.

"Hi, Joan!"

"We're making sandcastles!" Joan told her. "Even Baby Angie is!"

"Wow!" Grace said. "That's awesome."

"Come on!" Joan implored, tugging on Grace's hand.

Grace laughed, allowing herself to be pulled. "Okay, let's go."

"Don't worry about me," Danny said, following at a more sedate pace. "I'm coming, too. I don't need a big enthusiastic greeting."

"Eeii ah!" Angie said, both arms flapping excitedly as she recognized Grace.

"Well, that's good," Steve said with a wry smile at his partner. " 'Cause with Grace around I don't think you're going to get one."

"This is my sandcastle that I smashed when I jumped, but it's okay," Joan said as she showed Grace the remnants of her first sandcastle. "And this is Daddy's sandcastle and I helped him. And this is Baby Angie and Uncle Steve's sandcastle. It's still in the bucket."

Kneeling in the sand in her tankini, Grace gave Joan another little hug. "I can't believe how much you're talking now, Joan. You're such a big girl!"

Joan beamed at the praise.

"Ah bah ya!" Angie babbled, not to be outdone. "Ba bah!"

Grace grinned, reaching over to give her a little tickle. "And you, too, Angie."

Angie laughed, leaning over Steve's leg and grabbing a fistfull of sand. She held it out to Grace.

"For me?" Grace said with a chuckle as the wet sand dribbled out of Angie's hand onto hers. "Thanks, Angie."

Angie happily smeared the rest of the wet sand onto Steve's leg. "I think it's time for another dip to get rinsed off," he said, moving as if to pick up Angie and stand.

"Wait, Uncle Steve!" Joan protested. "Your sandcastle!"

"Ba yah!" Angie seemed to agree.

"Not like you to leave a job half done," Danny quipped.

"I'm not leaving a–" Steve began before shaking his head. He turned back to Joan. "Okay, Joanie, let's get this bucket off."

"Can Baby Angie help?" she asked.

"Baby Angie is a little more interested in getting sand all over my legs," Steve said, nodding to his daughter who was now using both hands to wipe sand on him.

"At least she's not trying to eat it this time," Grace said.

"Baby Angie didn't eat any sand," Joan assured her. "I watched her."

"Ohh, you're such a good cousin," Grace said, giving her another little squeeze.

"Ready, Joanie?" Steve asked, putting a hand under the rim of the bucket.

"Watch, Grace!" Joan said. "Watch!"

Together he and Joan lifted the bucket up and off.

"It worked!" Joan squealed. "See, Grace?"

"That looks great, Joan!" Grace said enthusiastically.

"Ba bah!" Angie cried, reaching for the mound.

"Careful, Angie," Grace started.

"It's okay if she smashes it," Joan said as Angie's fingers caused part of the mound to collapse. "She's a baby."

"That's my big girl," Aaron said, kissing her head.

"And we can always make another one, right, Joan?" Grace said.

"Yeah!"

* * *

After a rinse in the water, Steve stood with Angie in his arms as Joan showed them how she could write letters in the sand.

"This is J, O, A, N," she said, pointing to each one. "That's me!"

"Nice job, pumpkin," Aaron said. "But your J is backwards again."

She cocked her head, looking at it. "I like it backwards," she said.

He laughed. "You like it backwards?"

She grinned up at him.

"Oh, I see," he said, stepping toward her with a big smile. "I bet that's because you like being upside down and backwards!" He scooped her up and held her upside down as she shrieked with delight.

Angie laughed, trying to clap but mostly connecting with Steve's chest. He smiled at her. "You like that, too, don't you, baby girl?" he said, adjusting his hold on her and slowly dipping her backwards. She clutched at his arms but laughed happily as he brought her up and then dipped her again.

"She likes it!" Joan cried excitedly, even as Aaron swung her from side to side upside down.

"She's your cousin," he said with a grin. "Of course she likes it."

Beside them, Grace gave her father a sideways look. "Don't even think about it, Danno."

He laughed, putting a hand to his heart as if wounded. "What? You used to love when I did that."

She laughed as well. "Yeah, when I was little."

Aaron and Steve both straightened with their daughters. Grace reached for Angie who went to her easily.

"Do you want to show us some more letters, Joan?" she asked the preschooler.

Joan jumped happily, then planted herself back in the sand as Grace settled beside her with Angie.

The three fathers stood back a couple feet, watching the scene with contented smiles.

"It's so great to see Joan taking on the role of teacher," Aaron said as Joan pointed to a letter, telling Angie what it was. "She's so excited to be the one showing someone else how to do something for a change."

"Just wait, my friend, pretty soon she'll be showing you how to do something on your phone or computer," Danny said, clearly speaking from experience.

Aaron laughed. "Oh, I'm sure she will." He looked at Steve. "You said earlier she didn't like feeling sand when she was a baby." He shook his head. "I never knew that. By the time I came into her life she was perfectly happy on the beach. I missed all those early moments," he said, a trace a sadness in his voice. But it was gone as quickly as it had arrived and he smiled, his eyes on Joan again. "Makes me feel even luckier to have shared everything I have with her since." He looked back at Steve. "Cherish every second," he said. "They grow up fast."

"I am," Steve said earnestly. "It does go fast. Seems like it wasn't that long ago Catherine was pregnant and we were looking at ultrasound pictures. Now look at her." He smiled in amazement as Angie looked over her shoulder at Grace, clapping her hands together happily and beaming at Grace's enthusiastic reaction.

"One minute they're making sandcastles, the next they're talking about cars and colleges," Danny said. "All you want to do is stop time, but somehow also … you can't wait to see what they'll do next. What they'll learn, what they'll figure out, how they'll change."

"That's parenthood," Aaron said.

Steve nodded. "And I wouldn't trade it for the world."

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

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